Theheliotyeepbihtinoco



UNITED PAT''NT OFFIC.

JOHN C. REED, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND S. E. HU'ICHINSON, OF SAME PLACE.

PICK.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 28,638, dated June 5, 1860.

To all 'whom Lt may concern:

Be it known that I, J. C. REED, of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,- have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Convertible Picks; and I do hereby declare that the following` is a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference indicated thereon and forming part of this specilication.

My invention relates to the construction of t-hat class of picks which are capable of having the bit changed, and consists in so constructing them that the bit can be easily changed and when in the pick held very securely and not disturbed from its position when the other end of the head of the pick is used as a hammer.

In the engravings Figure l is a perspective view and Fig. 2 is a section of the pick with the bit therein.

lVlien instruments of this class are made in one piece the part on which the edge or point is formed not being removable, it becomes necessary when they are much worn either to throw away the entire instrument or be at considerable expense in rewelding the point, or bit or as it is comonly called by upsetting or welding in new steel, and moreover the same instrument is only adapted to a single purpose. Many devices have been employed to overcome these evils and articles termed tool-holders, &c., have been invented but none have been free from objections, such as the liability of the bit or tool to get set, so as to be difficult to re-- move from its holder, especially when constant blows or concussion is produced when the instrument is used, and another objection is the liability to loosen. To obtain an instrument free from these objections comparatively if not entirely is the object and result of my invention which may be described as follows:

A is the head of the instrument and is furnished with the socket B to receive a handle C from the head extends the jaw D and a spring j aw E, and at the extreme end of D a rabbet F is formed while the end of E is swelled out into a wedge shaped piece a so that any bit Gr which may be put into the rabbet F will be pressed against by the piece a while the back of the bit presses against the back of the rabbet F which forms a part of the solid head. The rabbet F widens slightly toward the back. The spring jaw E is secured to D close to the socket B and is slightly swelled out as at Z) and is encircled together with the jaw D by a slide H. The bit may be of the form of a pick as in Fig. 1 or in the form of an adz as in Fig. 2 but in either case it must be the same width as the rabbet, and being wider at its base than at its end it readily ts into the dovetail shaped space formed by the wedge shape piece a and the receding edge of the rabbet in D. The bit being placed in this rabbet and the slide H driven down, the bit is held perfect-ly secure and every blow which it receives is given to the stock or head A and does not in any way disturb its security, as the slide presses the wedge shaped projection a close to the bit and holds it tight. Should the head A be used as a hammer, the concussion in the opposite direction would tend to shake the slide H down the spring close to the socket B, were it not for the swelling out of the spring j aw E at b, which prevents the slide H leaving its place to hold the bit G from any concussion which it might receive when the hammer head was used for striking.

When it is required to remove the bit G either for repair, sharpening, or to substitute some tool for other purposes which is made of course to tit the rabbet, a stroke or two of a hammer on the slide H will release the spring, and the other bit can be placed in the rabbet after the former is taken out and a blow or two of a hammer in the opposite direction will secure the new bit in the same manner as the first.

The parts should be made of iron and steel or some such suitable material as is ulsually employed for implements of this c ass.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

The employment of the rabbet F in the jaw D when used in connection with a spring jaw E and slide H, to hold the bit, the spring being constructed so as to retain the slide substantially as set forth.

JOHN C., REED.

Titnesses WM. CLoUGH, CHARLES L. FISHER. 

